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JimC

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Everything posted by JimC

  1. I have some that I would sell for $4.75 a dozen; however you have to consider shipping costs. I live in Texas.
  2. Kinda minds me of the ancient Chineese proverb bout leading a horse and water.
  3. They sent an order to me in a USED box that originally contained plumbing supplies. What does that say about the cost of their containers?
  4. I used the entire width of the stick. I just cut the length. It melted the entire width of the container and it was 1/2 inch deep at the end of 4 hours. Since the diameter of the container at the top of the wax was 2 1/4 inches, I imagine that it would also work with a container of at least 2 1/2 inches (at least with this wax and this FO) A 3 inch container may have to be double wicked. I use bamboo skewers to stir my wax. I tried to use these as wicks also. They did not work. They smoked and stopped burning when they reached the wax.
  5. I took one pic at the beginning of the test. I will try to attach it. I am not sure that I was successful.
  6. I used a FO that I do not normally use because it is weak. I seemed to have about the same throw as a normal wick. The melt pool temp was around 168 degrees.
  7. The idea of a wood wick sounded interesting so I decided to try it myself. I poured some J223 in a glass flower pot votve container and stuck a craft stick (popsicle stick) in the wax before it hardened. SURPRISE,SURPRISE! IT WORKED. Here is the results: The container diameter at the top of the wax was 2 1/4 inches. The craft stick protruded 3/8 inch above the wax. The stick burned with a small flame: however, to my surprise it continued to burn. It DID NOT SMOKE, even in drafty conditions. (Here is a rub for you zinc lovers) No mushrooms At the end of 4 hours, I extinguished the flame. The wood wick protruded 1/4 inch above the wax pool. The melt pool depth was 1/2 inch. There was a slight crackling sound: however you had to put your ear close to the container in order to hear it. If you do that, hair ignition is possible. Then you would hear the crackling sound of burning hair. LOL The second burn continued the same as the first. If I want to do a complete burn I will have to come uo with a way of securing the wick. I would probably epoxy the stick to a tea light cup or a regular wick tab.
  8. My regular supplier was Lone Star. They said that OK6228 was a casualty of the Astorlite buyout by IGI. I live in Texas so shipping cost is an issue.
  9. Does anyone have spare OK 6228 wax that they want to sell?? My supplier no longer stocks it and it is the wax that I perfer.
  10. Actually, Candle guy, I also use a 50/50 mix of 6228 and J223. Just in case you are reading this, Top, I know that you on we people who mix pre-blended waxes. LOL I do, however, get satisfactory results ( except for this marble thing). When I gain more experience and have the time and money to do more experimentation, I will probably try plain votive wax.
  11. Well, yes the sides and the bottoms do start to solidify rather quickly because my wax room is cool and I do not pre-heat the molds.
  12. I was hoping there was a better way, Scented. I have tried that both in the pour pot and in the mold. I pour at 145 degrees in order to produce a smooth top with rounded edges. When I tried using the dyed tooth pick after pouring only the top was marbled and was not very nice looking at that. When I tried it in the pour pot, some of them come out ok, but half of them came as out a solid color. There in lies the inconsistancy. Note, I was only using 8 ounces of wax at a time in a small pour pot.
  13. I am using OK6228 wax. I have been trying to make marble colored tarts; but I haven't had any consistant results. Does anyone have any suggestions?
  14. No, the FO is from BCN. I tried the Blueberry Muffin from BCS: however it is not as good as the sample that I got from BCN. They said that the BCS FO is entirely different. The tarts that I made with the 8 oz bottle from BCN were not near as good and did not last as long as the ones I made with the sample bottle from BCN: also the color of the FO is not the same. I have not had this problem with any other FO from them or anyone else.
  15. I have tried using up other FO's up to 9% in this waxe with no problem. I am using 6% with this FO (28 grams FO per 454 grams wax). The wax should be able to handle it. Besides, there was no problem with the sample.
  16. I tried 3 different types of wax. Same results. I still think that the FO is "OVER THE HILL'; especially since the supplier said that this FO darkens with age. It almost looks like iodine. It is much darker than the sample. Does anyone else agree with me or have any other ideas?
  17. I recently purchased a FO sample and made some tarts to test the scent like I usually do...... Heat wax to 180, put wax in pour pot, place pour pot in a double boiler set-up to maintain the temp while mixing FO, add 6 % FO at 170, stir and pour at 145. For some FO's I have to increase the temp to 175 or 180 in order to get it to mix; however, this one worked fine at 170. I melted the resulting tart and was pleased with the sent so I ordered more of the same FO (Blueberry Muffin). I made a batch of tarts using the same procedure. This time there was GOO IN POUR POT (a brown sticky substance that was VERY difficult to remove). I had to use steel wool and lots of elboe grease to remove it. When I tested a resulting tart in a white glazed tart burner bowl, the bowl was also stained. Also, the scent of the resulting tart was not as good as the sample produced. The color of the FO that I received the second time was much darker than the sample. I contacted the supplier from which I ordered the FO. They told me that particular FO was a very heavy oil. They suggested adding 1/8 tsp per pound of universal additive, pre-heating the FO, and adding it to the wax at 190 degrees. Well, I did like they said and it worked a little better but basicly the same results. They said that particular FO does darken with age but it still works. It is one of their best sellers. I think I received some "OLD FOGY FO" . What do you think?
  18. Wellington Fragrance www.wellingtonfragrance.com has it also ( $16.00 per 16 oz. for premium line). I recently purchased a sample and was pleased with the smell.
  19. Grumpy, you could try Bitter Creek South in Houston www.bittercreek.com or Aztec in Knoxville www.buywax.com Both sell them for 65 cents a piece with lids. I bought them from both places.
  20. KMom, Have you looked at the Levine web site? www.levinegifts.com They have electric tart warmers for $8 to $10. The only problem is that they are not UL Listed. I have been testing the Combo and the CachePot warmers for the past 6 weeks. I think that they are the best of all that I have tested so far. The wax temp is not excessive. The area under them does get too warm. The ceramic sides are touchable. You can also use a candle warmer and a ceramic or glass container to hold the tart. Levine sells a ceramic bowl for that purpose for $2. I also use a wide mouth canning jar. Most all of the other candle warmers that I have tried can produce wax temps that are excessive and the surface that the units are placed gets a little too warm. You can buy those candle warmers for $3 to $6.50 from numerous suppliers. They are UL Listed. There have been some bad reports concerning the plastic warmers (high temps, burning, blowing up). I have not tried them and I have no intention to do so. They sell for $3 to $5 and they ARE UL Listed. HTH
  21. After all that I just said in my previous thread, here is My Advice to All Beginners: START SIMPLE and MASTER THAT PROCESS BEFORE MOVING ON TO SOMETHING MORE INVOLVED. Start out by making tarts with a pre-blended votive wax. That way you can learn to melt the wax, add FO and color, and pour. You do not have to mess with wicks and you are not using a large amount of ingredients, thus saving your hard earned $$$. (I use 8 ounces of wax at a time) That is also the best way to test new FO's. Once you master tarts you can move on to wickless candles or votives. By making votives you can start to learn to work with wicks and again you are not using a large amount of ingredients. Once you master votives then move on to container candles. I suggest that you start out using the same votive blend wax for tarts, votives, and containers. That keeps it simple & economical. Besides that you also won't have to worry about the dreaded 'WET SPOTS'. The wax will pull away from the container walls producing one big 'beautiful' wet spot. LOL Good Luck. Have Fun. I Wish You Well.
  22. I started out thinking that I would be selling candles in two or three months. I didn't expect to get rich. I just wanted a fun way of earning a little extra money on my own time schedule at home. After all, how hard could it be? Over my lifetime I have operated numerous businesses both part time and full time. Several of them involved a fair degree of technical knowledge and skill (buy, repair & sell automobiles - buy, remodel, & sell real estate - build, repair & sell personal computers) It seemed like making candles would be a 'Piece of Cake". All you have to do is melt some wax, stir in FO and color, stick a wick in a jar, and pour in the wax mixture. LOL So I jumped right in making container candles. I learned, however, that in order to make a QUALITY product that is Safe, Attractive, and Marketable it requires a fair amount of investment, considerable time, research, TESTING, and PATIENCE. There are many types of wax, many different fragrances, various sizes and types of wicks, and all different sizes and shapes of containers. Also, there are numerous additives that can be combined with the wax to produce various results. Additionally, the temperature of the wax is critical when melting, adding ingredients, and pouring. For each different wax, each different fragrance oil, each different size of container, and each different shape of container, a specific type and size of wick must be chosen and TESTED, and TESTED, and TESTED. All this is enough to drive a person crazy (even if they already are). LOL I am NOT trying to discourage anyone. Just the opposite. I am trying to keep you from becoming discouraged because you tried to do too much all at once. Don't jump right in and start making container candles like I did. First do a little research. You can do that by reading books, searching the Internt for information, or from forums like this one (which I consider an excellent source of information). Just remember that each different person that you listen to will tell you what works for them but that does not necessairly mean that it will work for someone else. Take in all information and advice that you can; however, decide what works for you by doing your own TRIAL & ERROR.
  23. Has anyone purchased from Creative Fragrances LTD ( a fragrance manufacturer in Dallas, TX )
  24. Here is some interesting info about home fires caused by candles: http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Candlereport.pdf The good thing is that I did not see any statistics about faulty candles causing fires.
  25. Does anyone use a type of toaster oven to warm glass containers? Some of them are too small, but there some larger ones. My candle making room is in a building separate from the house so it is not very convenient to use the regular oven in the kitchen.
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